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Wow, so much debate.
Now that I'm all caught up (thanks C.A for the summary), I'll give my thoughts on this episode, then make my comeback in the Spoilers and Speculation thread.

Spoiler for thoughts:

After watching 13:
On the show in general:
It's giving me a very Gurren Lagann-ish feel at the moment. Like right after the TTGL timeskip, everything starts to go wrong for the protagonists. I do hope it won't end up with Nerval going 'Well I had to do all that bad stuff because otherwise we'd be defenseless against some outside threat.' I say this because Kagura seems to be in her right mind about things, and she must have a reason for turning against her own family and supporting Nerval.

On the Shishidous and their support:
2 remaining, somewhat combat capable sisters, 2 defected, 1 MIA.The Surres and the three ninjas are out of commision, and the ICP is still powerless. Not good odds.

On the colonies:
So Nerval's St. Artemis body wasn't unique. That's very interesting.

That's all for now. More of my speculation in the S&S thread in a bit. Going to make a sandwich.

Using F35 is not a very good move IMO, they have to be at least 300years old. And I can think a movie that did similar things - Battlefield Earth...

@SaintessHeart
It's not a cheap knock off, they are built for different roles. You won't want to use a F22 for ground support. One is not better than the other in absolute usefulness terms.

You should go over to the Strike Witches thread and try saying that. The F-22 can do everything an F-35 can do, and do it better. The extra cost is justified by just how much the F-22 outmatches any other production aircraft currently in service.

Indeed the F-22 is the best American jet, no doubt about it, there's a reason the pilots do simulations of 2 F-22s vs 16 F-15s.

But you can't cramp F-22s on carriers, that's where the F-35 variants come in.

For the show using it, I think they're just trying to link back to 'ancient Earth' like Mr Blackbelt and the other 'antiques' that Leopard was dumping in space back in episode 1. In episode 1, the ICP traffic police Lily, was saying that these items are antiques from the Earth 10000 years ago, I'm not sure if she's exaggerating though.

But seeing how high tech civilisation is in the show, it could be possible.

You should go over to the Strike Witches thread and try saying that. The F-22 can do everything an F-35 can do, and do it better. The extra cost is justified by just how much the F-22 outmatches any other production aircraft currently in service.

F-35 ARE more or less cheap knockoffs. I can't (or rather, forbidden to) tell you why, but it is.

F-35/F22/AVB8 are probably the echelon frame designs of Earth based aircraft. VTOL technology gives the aircraft an edge in massed attacks, and all is needed is regular upgrades to the avionics and flight control systems. Unless we can mass produce a high density but low weight material (pun unintended), putting a human being at above Mach 3 speeds for hours on end will turn them into strawberry jam.

The next best aircraft type to be able to be piloted by humans would be something of variable vector maneuver, like the VF in Macross (Honoka > Sakura >>> Ranka/Sheryl). But that would take incredible coordination and onboard functions to be able to fly such a thing.

F22 isn't exactly built for ground support, unless it is used to drop a nuclear JDAM. It is fast enough to fly out of the blast zone and is EMP shielded.

One thing about the F-35 is its variable capability that allows it to mount the beam guns. Another thing is that it can mount external payloads of AAMs. All it needs is extra thrusters and canards to be able to lift it into the sky.

Spoiler for spoiler:

The cockpit looks like an F-15E/F-16's.

__________________

When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.

They probably have some form of AI/reaction computing (predecessor to the Navis?) to help with piloting as in Yukikaze, and even then only people with exceptional reflexes would be able to pilot them.

Those big radomes (if that's what they are) aren't very aerodynamic, though.

I woul like to take my word back about the AEWCS. It seems that it is attached to the beam guns, so it would be the capacitors or cyclotrons for them.

__________________

When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.

I don't think any of the sisters know who Aleida is, even for Akiha who saw her face. Because Akiha couldn't recognise Aleida as anyone besides the lady in her dreams, she may actually not be their mum.

It would be really difficult to forget how your mum looks like lol and if they know Aleida is their mum, I don't think Takane and Kazane would be fighting her like an enemy.

Akiha couldn't recognise Aleida as anyone besides the lady in her dreams, she may actually not be their mum.

Spoiler for Aleida:

I think you do have a good point here. I may have rushed into conclusion on Aleida being the mother, since the only time this was suggested was by Nami, who was going through an traumatizing experience. After rechecking ep11, I found that Aleida didn't reveal her face to Nami throughout that whole scene. Interesting.

Although one could argue otherwise: Akiha being very young when she was separated from her mother; Aleida only acquired her fighting styles after her "conversion" etc.

This indeed make one appreciate the mystery surrounding Aleida. She is a Kagura-look-alike. That much is confirmed. If Aleida is indeed the brainwashed Kagura, then no doubt she would still have deep connection (via blood or not) with the Shishito sisters. Why would she appear in Akiha's dream otherwise? It still makes the Vader comparison valid, Aleida being the hope of the world that has fallen to be the right hand side of the dark side.

On the other hand, Aleida may as well be a Kagura clone. What is a better way to plant the seed of the doubt, fear and confusion into your enemies than letting them to fight their former leader?

Unless much more are revealed, we just don't know, do we?

To add one more confusing point, was Aleida able to enter Akiha's dreams, or was showing her face to Akiha just incidental?

I think you do have a good point here. I may have rushed into conclusion on Aleida being the mother, since the only time this was suggested was by Nami, who was going through an traumatizing experience. After rechecking ep11, I found that Aleida didn't reveal her face to Nami throughout that whole scene. Interesting.

Although one could argue otherwise: Akiha being very young when she was separated from her mother; Aleida only acquired her fighting styles after her "conversion" etc.

This indeed make one appreciate the mystery surrounding Aleida. She is a Kagura-look-alike. That much is confirmed. If Aleida is indeed the brainwashed Kagura, then no doubt she would still have deep connection (via blood or not) with the Shishito sisters. Why would she appear in Akiha's dream otherwise? It still makes the Vader comparison valid, Aleida being the hope of the world that has fallen to be the right hand side of the dark side.

On the other hand, Aleida may as well be a Kagura clone. What is a better way to plant the seed of the doubt, fear and confusion into your enemies than letting them to fight their former leader?

Unless much more are revealed, we just don't know, do we?

To add one more confusing point, was Aleida able to enter Akiha's dreams, or was showing her face to Akiha just incidental?

I had a theory about Akiha's dreams though not much:

Spoiler:

Kagura may only appear to Akiha when Aleida is in the vicinity, her QT some how gets to Akiha and appears to her in her dream.

In this episode, Aleida is in space and Akiha is on Earth, that could be why she doesn't have a dream sequence.

It may be some kind of 'QT-resonance' or something.

What Kagura tells Akiha has always been something of relevance to what she's about to do or encounter. But it never seems to provide any real help.

We really don't know if Aleida and Kagura are the same or whether they are separate. We had many theories about her but they all don't add up fully.

Do visit the speculation thread, it has no spoilers beyond what was shown in the anime.

I haven't posted on this board yet but I have to say this episode was all kinds of fun. Especially Akiha and Itsuki's bikinis. Or the old guy in the end. Or Sawashiro Miyuki's character whose name I can't remember cacking a whip and becoming a messiah. Or anything Leopard did.

__________________

'The world we live in is always in darkness.'
'Yes, and that is why we seek light.'

Wow. There's like so much going on in this episode. It's all overwhelming actually.

Spoiler for About the Earth...:

I'm starting to get confused now after watching episode 13. How'd the Earthlings become the way they are now. Who or what is abducting all the natives on the planet? What happened to the Earth?

the only way to explain why humans on earth going primate is because 20 years ago, all adults are brainwashed by nerval and the childrens are left on their own. without anyone to teach or guide them, the childrens grew up the way they are now.